Consider the following statements: 1) The duration of the monsoon decreases from southern India to northern India. 2) The amount of annual rainfall in the northern plains of India decreases from east to west. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Both statements are correct, so the answer is C. Work it through from how the monsoon behaves, not from memory of the key.

Statement 1 is correct. The southwest monsoon sets in over Kerala around 1 June and withdraws from the north-west (Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana) only by mid-September or later. The rainy season is therefore longest in peninsular south India and shortest in the north-west. Duration shrinks as you move north.

Statement 2 is correct. The northern plains get most of their rain from the Bay of Bengal branch. Assam and West Bengal in the east receive well over 150 cm a year, while Punjab and Haryana in the west get roughly 40 to 60 cm. Rainfall falls steadily from east to west, which is why dependence on irrigation rises westward.

Core concept: monsoon onset and withdrawal, and the two branches of the monsoon. This links to GS-I physical geography and to Mains questions on agriculture, groundwater and the western plains.

Trap: Candidates often assume the monsoon weakens uniformly from south to north, or confuse rainfall quantity with duration, and mark option A or B.